Tenant Volunteers support Great Toy Rescue events

Berwickshire Housing Association’s Tenant Volunteers are lending their support to Berwickshire Swap’s Great Toy Rescue events.

They have awarded a grant of £500 towards this initiative which has proved very popular.

The Great Toy Rescue events were held in Eyemouth and Duns and both were a great success.

The whole idea of the ‘swap’ came about when a group of Berwickshire parents who had a mountain of clothes that no longer fitted their children, and struggled to find affordable clothes to replace them, got together and set up Berwickshire Swap, a volunteer group that is now in the process of becoming a charity.

One of the founders, Catherine Goldsmith, explained: “We run swap events in Berwickshire and the surrounding areas, focusing mainly on children’s clothes. But we will organise swaps for other items too. We charge a small entry fee (currently £1) and people take along and donate items they no longer use, and are then free to rummage and take away what they need.

“Leftover clothes are stored for the next swap. At the moment, we are looking into making these clothes available on request from health visitors, schools, etc, as clothing parcels for those who need them.

“The theme for 2020 Recycle for Scotland’s Pass It On Week is ‘The Great Toy Rescue’ and Berwickshire Swap decided to hold the toy swap events.”

The group’s next event is a Children Clothes Swap in Reston Village Hall on Saturday, May 16th.